From the Farmlet: Thanksgiving weekend

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thanksgiving weekend

Despite several days of cool rainy weather, we managed to get two walls up on the second floor over Thanksgiving weekend.

Our first tiny wall section... just before leaving for Thanksgiving dinner at the Beach Rose Cottage:

View of the oak tree framed through the kids' future bathroom window:

Check out those staggered studs... this has worked out to be such a great (and easy!) way to frame a house. Besides providing room for some thickness of dense pack cellulose insulation continuously along the wall length, staggered studs are also apparently used for sound proofing - which will be especially useful since this is the kids bedroom / hangout / music room.

Ben "helping" Papa:

With a whole lot of faith, we relied on the math and just cut the entire gable wall using Mark's method... then did a test layout on the living room floor (minus the headers)... so far so good!

Sam lifted nearly the entire gable wall, piece by piece, up to Brad on the 2nd floor.

Lifting the wall...

Obviously very pleased that the math worked... the wall went together perfectly.

First lunch in the kids room! Amazingly warm for late November... we are dreaming of being completely done next summer and wondering why we didn't plan for a second floor porch.

Kids can only work for a little while before they start going crazy and goofy... yes, that is our lunch all over the ground. Does Ben look guilty? Sam is alive and well, in case you are wondering.

Two peas in a pod...

The boys thought Erik would appreciate our new wrestling ring:

And by Sunday afternoon, one half of the tower is up:

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About the Farmlet

In 2004, we bought a 1.5 acre property in Ocean Point with a 1970s Magnolia trailer on it. We really hated the trailer (it smelled) but loved the lot, seeing that the mature trees around the lawn would make a perfect site for a new summer cottage someday.

In 2007, we had the opportunity to move to Boothbay full-time. We looked for a "field" property, trying to re-create the farm life we had in New Gloucester. It took us a while to realize the Ocean Point property was smaller but better than all the others we were looking at... so we decided to build the "farmlet".

We set some pretty simple goals for the project:

1. We wanted to build a small home. There is a lot of 'pressure' out there to build a house for the future buyer. A lot of people make you believe you have to have certain things to make the house marketable. After having lived for 7 years in New Gloucester with 2 empty 'extra bedrooms' and a full bath we never used, we decided we were only going to build spaces that were absolutely essential to the way WE lived our lives. We set a benchmark of 1,200 square feet, to keep us in line while space planning.

2. We wanted to build a "green" home. For obvious reasons! We felt challenged to make this house super-insulated, well sealed and as energy efficient as possible. We have also been intrigued by advances in building construction techniques for the last few years and were eager to put ideas to work.

3. We wanted to build a home with plenty of natural daylight and a sense of openness to the outdoors. While the property is small, it has the advantage of great sun exposure... long to the east and west and open to the south. And so we designed a long and skinny home, with living areas on the south and utility spaces on the north (entry, stairs, pantry, bath, mudroom, laundry). We also put in big windows and set them high in the house so we could look up into the sky and treetops.

4. We wanted to do it ourselves. Mostly to have time on our side, so we could research new things and make decisions along the way. Being new to a 'debt-free' lifestyle, we also didn't want to build up a huge insta-debt by hiring someone to deliver our dreams for us. We realized another cost of letting someone else build our home was giving away the life-changing experience of the journey itself. We wanted to learn new trades, and teach them to our boys as we went along.

5. We wanted a home that had typical qualities of an Ocean Point cottage but with some quirkiness too. We love slightly odd houses... those with big towers and low slung additions, oddly placed windows and exaggerated spaces. We also wanted a home that would be simple to build.. no interconnecting roof lines or dormers, just basic traditional forms put together to create the whole.

From the Farmlet

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thanksgiving weekend

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Bye Bye Magnolia!